Saturday I saw Black Grace perform in the Schouwburg. Black Grace is a New Zealand dance company led by Neil Ieremia. Ieremia choreographs dances inspired by and drawn upon both his Samoan heritage and the current world of New Zealand. They’re doing a tour of the Netherlands with a show called Verse 3: a collection of five short works and excerpts of various older works.

Pati Pati (2009) was the first. It’s a mix of fragments from four other works using Samoan seated dance (Sasa) and slap dancing (Fa’ataupati). It has pieces from Relentless (1998), Black Grace (1995), Fia Ola (1998) and Amata (2007). I really loved this because of the rhythm and repetition. It’s meditative.

The second was Human Language (2002), a work inspired by the body language of men and women when they start getting romantically interested in each other. It also mimics various forms of mating behaviour. It starts out, for example, by the men blowing up colourful balloons. As the girl parades in front of them they raise their heads so the balloons hang at throat level. Similar to how some birds inflate their necks to show of their vibrant neck and belly feathers. As the girl turns them down, they let go of the balloons in defeat, letting them shoot away as they deflate.

Gathering Clouds (2009) was made in answer to an article in a New Zealand newspaper. The article went on about how Pacific Island immigrants to New Zealand had the lowest education levels, were most represented in prison, most without jobs and so on, basically saying they were bad for New Zealand. This pissed Neil off so made this work to deal with his feelings and show that things aren’t perfect, they evolve and change and unrest comes from that, and helps with that. The dance starts with strong Samoan influences, traditional dancing and traditional music and halfway through morphs into more modern dancing on a number of Goldberg Variations by Bach to show that yes, we’re all different, but we’re all also the same.

Mother Mother (2013) was choreographed on request of New Zealand group Fat Freddy’s Drop. They wrote a song called Mother Mother and wanted Neil to make a dance for the videoclip. Ieremia refused a couple times but eventually agreed. The work starts out with a lot of physical manipulation of the body culminating in the literal raising up of women as a symbol for how Mothers help their kids up.

The final piece, Minoi (1999), is traditional. It is a Samoan song which literally means to wiggle. It starts with a woman singing the song and then blends with the dancers. They appear behind her and take over the singing. Mixing it with slap dancing and turning the song into a round it becomes a mantra.

So, today we went back to the furniture store with Dad. After some trying out of both, the decision was made to get the one we chose Wednesday. Except in a different colour.

Mom had been thinking she wanted it in a more blueish colour. The associate got out his samples and he had this pretty blue-grey one (left in the image). In a very smart move, Mom had brought a curtain along to check how it would look with the sofa. She liked the blue and it seemed it was going to be that until she spotted another colour on the sample ring. This was a more green-grey colour (right in the image).

In the middle of the show room I wasn’t too impressed with the colour. It seemed too dark and ill-matched with the curtain. We put everything on a table near a window to check the effect in natural light. There the green-grey one stood out and really fit with the curtain.

Thus it was decided. After filling out the order form, Mom decided she also wanted a new chair to go with it. In the showroom across from the sofa was a chair she had been eyeing while we were there. It’s a more modern and streamlined shape than the old-fashioned wooden chair they currently have. The covering resembled that of the sofa on display without being too matchy-matchy.

The associate brought out fabric samples for the chair and luckily it came in a grey colour that matched with the one for the sofa. The order form got amended to include the chair, and that concluded our business there. In between I drooled some more over the cabinet I saw last week. It’s still very much out of my budget, but it is so pretty. So I took a picture 🙂

Next stop was the thrift store one town over. As of today Nienke has a new house, so I will need some additional furniture when she moves out. That will still be a few weeks away but we’re in the neighbourhood anyway. The thrift store didn’t have anything that struck my fancy in the furniture department. I checked out the books, and hit the jackpot there. I found both the third part in a three-book series that I’ve been missing. I got the first two parts as a kid and always wanted to get the third to go with it. Here it was, for fifty cents 🙂

Then I found another book I’ve been looking for for years. I read Hadassa as a kid and it always stayed with me. Once I got older, though, I could never find it again. Until now. This book was ten cents. And then it turned out all books were 50% off. So I got both of them for thirty cents total!

We then made our way over to the town center to check out a few other stores and to have lunch before heading home.

At home I worked on the stairs some more. I got sick of the laminate flooring on the stairs. The metal corners are noisy and sharp, and the way the laminate has been places shortens the treads. Plus, it’s slippery. Last week I pulled off all the metal edges and the front laminate. Today I started taking off the laminate on the treads.

This has proven to be one hell of a job. The previous tenant glued everything on with a cement-like substance. It’s fairly easy to remove on its own, but it’s a bitch to pull the laminate pieces loose. It took me about an hour and a half, two hours to get as far as in the picture. I’m continuing on Friday, but this is gonna be a multi-day project. Once the stairs are all clear I’ll be sanding and painting it and then adding some tread rugs to prevent slipping. I’m still thinking about what colour to paint it.

A little after five Mom picked me up to drop me off at the bike repair shop. I brought my bike in last weekend for repairs and it was ready today. I’d been putting new air in my back tire every morning for weeks now and got sick of it. Beyond that, I also had the guy put on a new back light, move the front light forward and check the chain.

He called this morning when we were in the car to discuss the front light. It turned out it was full of water and the dynamo was fried. He suggested replacing all that with a battery powered light which would be a lot cheaper than replacing dynamo and regular light. I’m all for cheaper, so I agreed.

When I got there he walked me through what he did to the bike. Beyond the discussed things he also replaced a broken spoke and tightened the brakes. The chain was rusty so he cleaned it and he re-aligned the front wheel also to better deal with the weight of the crate I have in front. I’m really satisfied with what the dude did, and how he did it.

Saturday Mom and I went grocery shopping. While underway, she said she also wanted to check out the furniture store. The current sofa set they have isn’t very comfortable and some of the stitching is getting loose. Mom’s been thinking about getting one sofa and two recliners so she wanted to check it out.

At the store we wandered around and looked at everything, taking our sweet time. We tried out various recliners and sofa’s with no particular intent to actually pick something. I drooled over a particularly pretty kitchen cupboard that is way out of my budget range and a likewise pretty cabinet that was even more out of my range.

Eventually we stumbled across a pretty brown sectional. It was comfortable to sit on and Mom really liked the colour. A sectional won’t fit in my parent’s living room, but it also comes as separate sofas. We filed it away in our mind and continued our round.

Later on, we stumbled on another sectional. This one a different shade of brown with the stitching in a contrasting lighter colour. This one was also comfortable, and also available as separate sofas.

By now we had made a full round so we tried out both sofas and compared. In the end both Mom and I preferred the lighter one. It was more comfortable to sit on and looked less massive. Especially since it’s available with thinner arm rests.

After some more discussing sofa versus recliner, Mom realised Dad would not be happy with a chair. He just wants to be able to lie on his side when napping. With that squared away, the choice almost made itself.

What with Dad being at home, Mom couldn’t make the decision then and there. We’re returning on Wednesday with Dad to sit on it some more and decide. But I’m pretty sure this’ll be it. 🙂

Yesterday being a Wednesday meant only half a day of work so lots of time for fun things! I’d planned to meet up with Gert and see two movies. I was in the city centre a bit before him so I browsed the market square and then headed for the News Café to have a drink. Gert met up with me there. We chose our movies and headed on the way to the cinema. However, we had some time left so we decided on some clothes shopping. This turned out to take more time than we thought as there were sales going on at several stores. I managed to score a pair of pants and a belt for under €20 and then another pair of pants elsewhere for about €10. Score!

After this, we were too late to make our first movie so we amended our plans. We decided to take the early Spotlight and then go for dinner after. Spotlight is a great movie. It tells the tale of how the large scale sexual abuse of children by Catholic Priests in the Boston area was uncovered by the investigative journalism team of the Boston Globe. It features, among others, Mark Ruffalo, Michael Keaton and Rachel McAdams. It shows how they, mostly accidentally, stumble upon data that doesn’t add up. As they do their research it becomes clear that something has been going on for a long time. And that people had tried to bring this to light earlier, only to get ignored or shut down. The team speaks with victims, who are often reluctant to come forward, as well as with suspected perpetrators and their higher ups who want the lid to stay on.

I found it to be an impressive film. The story is tight, no frills and unnecessary extra drama. The narrative as-is, is more than compelling enough and the acting is great. I definitely recommend.

After Spotlight we hit Subway for dinner and parted ways. Then today, after work, it was time for the regular dinner with friends. Hitching a ride with Ingrid, we headed to Mellien’s for great food, and great company 🙂

Ingrid called, earlier this week, if I wanted to go out for dinner and go with her to pick out a new fridge on Saturday. Of course I said yes 🙂

We settled on dinner at Chi-Chi’s, a Mexican place. We could only get a reservation for 20:30 so we turned the order around. Fridge shopping first, dinner second. Only, during the day Ingrid found out that the Mediamarkt isn’t open on Saturday evenings any more…

We still headed to the city at the agreed upon time. Except instead of shopping, we went to La Brasse for drinks and a pre-dinner snack. Cue cappucino and cheesecake 🙂

We stayed there for about an hour and a half just chatting and talking. Then we crossed the street to go to Chi-Chi’s. I’d never been there before but I enjoyed it. A nice location, looking pretty modern and not like a stereotypical Mexican place. They had choices between actual Mexican stuff like burritos, taco, quesadillas and more Mexican-American inspired burgers.

I went with a spicy burrito as a starter, a steak burger for a main course and fried ice cream with whipped cream and honey. It was very tasty!

After getting my bike padlock frozen I borrowed Mom’s bike to use until I had time to look at the lock. Tuesday went fine, but Wednesday morning, the ice got the better of me, again. This time when I went around the corner near the Chinese restaurant. There, too, it was slippery. Luckily I was, again, not going very fast so there was no damage to me or the bike.

When I got home I returned the bike to Mom’s and set to work on my busted lock. After some wiggling, the key slid in and it just opened… Stupid lock.

Yesterday after work I hit the city with Kim. The temple of her glasses broke so she wanted to get that fixed and maybe get new ones. Unfortunately they couldn’t fix the temple as they didn’t have that particular size and hinge mechanism anymore. They also had no time anymore to fit her in for a measuring for a new pair so we left with nothing except an invitation to come back the next day.

We were now pretty hungry so it was Pappa Joe’s for dinner. I decided on nachos instead of a burger and had some bread and herb butter to go with it. Afterwards we walked down the main shopping street to browse and get some stuff. Kim wanted gloves, and she found a pair she liked. I checked out the book outlet and found two graphic novels I liked. So score for the both of us!

Saturday Ingrid had her housewarming get together. In the morning I took a quick trip to the town centre to pick up a small gift. I found a pretty vase, vaguely diamond shaped, and a jar of coloured stones to fill it with. I then added a fake flower from my collection for a pleasing little arrangement. In the afternoon I headed over there and had a pleasant time with Ingrid and friends. We all ate together as Anne and her boyfriends made a huge pile of pancakes. Nom!

Gert recently got a train card thing that lets him travel for free during the weekends. So, on Sunday he came over. We had planned to play some games, but we ended up just talking and drinking tea and such. He stayed for dinner and we played with the Monty Python fridge poetry before he had to head back home. I grabbed my bike to accompany him to the station.

It was still cold and occasionally icy outside, so I was pretty careful when leaving. Nevertheless, the ice won. As I turned on to the road from the path beside my block, down I went. Fortunately I wasn’t going fast so I didn’t get hurt. Gert had walked ahead so didn’t even notice. I got back up on the bike and caught up with Gert. He had heard the noise of my bike padlock rattling in the basket when I fell, but figured I rode over a bump 😀

Yesterday was mostly uneventful. So, to compensate for that, my padlock decided to freeze up and stop me from unlocking my bike. I couldn’t even get my key in. I carry a small container of lock anti-freeze in my bag, but that didn’t help. So I had to walk home dragging the bike with me… To say I was ill-pleased is putting it mildy.

Today I went to the movies after work. I’d wanted to see Joy for a while now, but I couldn’t quite make it work time-wise until this week. I was a bit disappointed by the movie. Id’seen trailers and they made it seem like a family drama kinda thing set in the sixties (ish). Plus, Jennifer Lawrence.

A few times during the movie I checked the time, or wondered how far along we were. That’s not a good sign. I didn’t expect the actual plot where she is a regular sort of dead-end housewife who does an invention. The invention goes on TV and becomes popular, then she has to fight over the patent and all’s well that ends well.

There were definitely good bits. Especially the interaction between Joy and her ex-husband is nice. However I didn’t really understand the reasoning behind letting grandma be the narrator when she’s not around for most of the movie. The other family members annoyed the crap out of me. I also didn’t like how jumpy the story became where they would meticulously show everything that happened when it wasn’t really interesting, and then skip parts that I wanted to see. In the end, it’s the kind of movie you watch when you happen to come across it during channel surfing.

We’re having ice everywhere. I’m very glad I’m off work this week because everything is frozen. People are skating on streets even…

The front yard has stones in it, they are all frozen over and solid. The tile path, the street, the tiled front yard of the neighbour, it’s all ice.

Monkey is not impressed and stays in. There’s still ice on the window like in yesterday’s picture, but it has lessened some. In the backyard the ice is less thick so I managed to break it where it’s covering the path. I could shove it aside like piles of broken glass.

Saturday Nienke, Kim and I exchanged winter gifts. I got Kim a colouring book about owls, pretty shower stuff and a dvd of A Knight’s Tale. It’s Kim’s favourite movie but it broke so it wouldn’t play anymore. She got me a bag of chocolate drops mixed with marshmallows to make your own hot cocoa with, a glorious bar of chocolate and a book called The Book of Ivy. I hadn’t heard of it before, but it sounds like a really good book. I’m looking forward to reading it. Captain spent the evening helping us unpack.

Sunday I took town the trees and Monkey needed to make sure I put the tree parts in the bag just right.

I have this week off work so while Milo looks disapprovingly at the weather outside, I cuddle up on the sofa with Captain “lazy bones” Blackbeard.

Tse Elsewhere

Random Quote

Let us rise up and be thankful, for if we didn’t learn a lot today, at least we learned a little, and if we didn’t learn a little, at least we didn’t get sick, and if we got sick, at least we didn’t die; so, let us all be thankful.